The Philosopher Prince by Paul Waters

Author:Paul Waters [WATERS, PAUL]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FIC000000, FIC011000, FIC027050
ISBN: 9781468303247
Publisher: The Overlook Press
Published: 2012-04-20T16:00:00+00:00

Two days later the troops of the palace guard finally departed from the citadel, a sullen band of demoralized soldiers followed by carts of ragged womenfolk wrapped against the cold, led by a hangdog tribune.

While the arrangements were being made, Decentius had kept to his rooms in the citadel; but now, with the troops departed, he emerged once more, wholly undaunted, full of foolish confidence, strutting about with Pentadius as though he had won some sort of victory. He complained to Julian that still there had been no word from Lupicinus in Britain, whose legions – the Herulians and the Batavians – he required. And why, he demanded, had the prefect Florentius not come? The remaining troops were still in their outlying winter quarters; he could wait no longer; Julian himself must issue the order for them to assemble in Paris.

No one but Julian was present at this exchange. When later he recounted it to Oribasius and me, he said, ‘He complains I am not cooperating; he blames me for the trouble with the women, and says it will be better for me if I show the emperor my good faith. He does not even trouble to conceal the threat.’

He let out his breath, and made a small, hopeless gesture. He looked suddenly very young, I thought, like an unhappy boy. ‘It was just the same,’ he said, ‘with Gallus.’

Gallus was his elder brother. He too had grown up in isolation, kept on the same remote estate in Asia – until Constantius decided he had need of him. Then, though he had no education in ruling, the emperor had promoted him to the rank of Caesar, just as he had later done with Julian. But that was where the similarity between the two brothers ended. Gallus’s character was not honed and tempered by learning, as Julian’s was. Having been taught nothing of moderation, he had grown drunk on power, until in the end Constantius had removed him, first of all summoning away his troops, then ordering him to court for ‘consultations’. The consultations were a lie. On the way he was arrested, summarily condemned without a trial, and beheaded.

Julian seldom mentioned him. I suppose he was ashamed. But they were brothers, all the same – and Gallus, for all his faults, had been the last of his family.

Switching from Latin to Greek, he said quietly, ‘And purple death and mighty fate overwhelmed him.’

‘So Homer says,’ said Oribasius. ‘But that is not your destiny, unless you choose it.’

Julian heard him, but did not speak. He stood for a long time silent, looking out at the courtyard with its row of leafless fruit trees. Beyond, from the west, from the direction of the boundless ocean, the air was stirring, driving off the rain. Spreading bands of golden light were shafting across the land.

He watched for a while; but his mind was elsewhere, deep in his thoughts. Then, with an almost imperceptible nod, he turned back to the room and glanced down at the table.

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